yes there is a bushing in there. might have to go to a junk yard or the dealer to get a new one if its worn out. it expands when you go to remove the old shifter. i recommend cleaning and repacking it with new grease first. bearing grease works just fine.

This has been a source of discussion among my group of friends for a while.

One of them thinks that it's the shaft coming out of the transmission that contains to much slop. He's talked about welding on a universal joint to both ends of the shifting mechanism to alleviate the play. Haven't seen it come to fruition yet but if it ever does I'll be sure to post.

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the ball of the shifter sits in a little plastic cage/bushing - part # 54110-SH3-003 from the dealer.

that may help, but the usual suspects in shifter play are two things:

1) the u-joint that's part of the shift linkage itself. both rc autoworks and wicked innovation do a mod where they take your shift linkage, cut out the old joint, and weld a much nicer u-joint in it's place. spendy though. a brand new shift linkage may help (and is much cheaper at only $40-$60), but I think the stock linkage still has more play than the modded u-joints.

2) the bitch pin itself can cause a fair amount of play at the shifter - I just replaced mine with a brand new one from the dealer, and it improved things significantly.

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Anyone know how hard this is to replace?... does the linkage have to be dropped? Or can you do it from inside the car?

it's the exact same difficulty as replacing the shift lever itself. 99% certain you'll have to wrench under the car at least, not sure that you have to drop the linkage - chances are you can just unbolt the linkage in the back and swing it down.

it's certainly easiest if you're able to pull the 'torque arm' (part of the linkage that the shifter actually sits in) out from under the car.

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Get under there and move the shifter up/down while looking at it. The culprint should be fairly easy to spot.
From the sound of it I would look at the bushings and check if the bolts are in properly.
If in good condition and properly mounted they should hold the shifter in place.

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